Facebook's CEO suggested in a Q&A yesterday that the company's
Internet.org project could come to Europe, but it is unlikely to happen any
time soon

Mark Zuckerberg has hinted that he may bring Facebook's free internet project, Internet.org, to Europe, saying that the service will be made available to anyone "who needs to be connected" to the web.

In a wide-ranging Q&A session on his social network yesterday, Mr Zuckerberg said the initiative to connect the two-thirds of the world without internet access could be rolled out further.

But what is Internet.org and could it really have a role to play in Europe, where internet access is already so prolific?

Internet.org is a global partnership launched in 2013 with the aim of making internet access available to the two-thirds of the world that are not yet connected.

As well as Facebook, founding members include Ericsson, MediaTek, Nokia, Opera, Qualcomm and Samsung.

The first product to come out of the Internet.org partnership last year was a mobile app that allows people in developing countries to access basic web services for free over their mobile network.

The app launched first in Zambia and has since rolled out in Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana, Colombia and parts of India. It allows users to browse a set of health, employment and local information services without data charges.

These include AccuWeather, BBC News, Facebook, Messenger, Google Search, Wikipedia, Facts for Life and UNICEF, as well as a number of locally-specific apps such as Go Zambia Jobs and India Today.

By providing free basic services via the app, Facebook says it hopes to bring more people online and help them discover valuable services they might not have otherwise.

As well as the app, the Internet.org partnership is also looking at providing internet access from the sky in places that are currently unconnected, using drones, satellites and lasers, .

Last month it emerged that Facebook was testing solar-powered drones, developed by Somerset-based company Ascenta, to beam down laser-guided internet signals to those below.

The drones have a wingspan greater than a Boeing 737 but weigh less than a car, and solar panels attached to the wings mean that they will be able to keep going at altitudes of 60,000 ft for months at a time.

Facebook says this will bring online connectivity to remote locations, previously inaccessible, for the first time.

Although some internet users in the UK and the rest of Europe still struggle with very slow broadband speeds, the Internet.org project is primarily focused on connecting people in developing countries.

In yesterday's Q&A, Mr Zuckerberg said that although the aim of Internet.org project is to deliver internet wherever there are people that need to be connected, developing countries will take priority.

“We're starting off by prioritising the countries with the most unconnected people and by working with network operators and governments who are most excited about working with Internet.org to get everyone online in their countries,” he said.

It is therefore unlikely that people in Europe that suffer from lack of connectivity will be benefitting from Internet.org any time soon.

However, the implication is that, once the project becomes more established, if operators and governments in Europe want to tap into Internet.org to help deal with the problem of connectivity 'not-spots', they could come to some kind of arrangement with Facebook.

As the owner of drone company Ascenta, this could provide a lucrative new business model for Facebook, effectively turning the company into an internet service provider. But it is unclear whether Facebook wants to pursue this on a global scale.

Meanwhile, governments in Europe may find there are more practical and immediate solutions to their connectivity problems, which rely less heavily on the social network.